Dear all,
I hold a frozen ATPL but I am also completing a degree in economiscs at ICHEC, in Brussels.
I decided to make my thesis about the merger between SN and VEX so I am looking for your help in order to get some information.
Your opinion is of course welcome, but I am looking for facts and I have the feeling nobody knows where this merger leads to... so if somebody can help me!!!
Could somebody tell me which planes are in leasing and which ones are property of the airline?
How are they going to save money while keeping all the management staff in place?
To which kind of fleet do they go? Are they going to stay with 2 different AOC or do they intend to keep only one?
How do the staff welcome this merger?
I thank you very much for any help you will bring me,
Olivier
merger SNBA/VEX
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speedbird1
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I would have thought that they will eventually be on 1 AOC, but at the moment they are on 2, like US Airways/America West. I would also expect to see some more aircraft enter the fleet, in the form of some more 737s (as there are staff already) replacing the BAe 146s/Avros, though I am not sure about loadfactors on those routes. Looking forward to hearing how you get on! 
Emirates' advice is one of the best that could be given; on this forum, you are more likely to get rumours, opinions, guesses and speculations rather than facts. Write to SN PR management, or even the secretary of Etienne Davignon, who (Davignon) is an alumni member of the UCL.
If that fails, you can call at the newspaper "L'Echo" who has the best archives and up to dates information on economical matters, whatever the area.
All the best and "Break a Leg!"
If that fails, you can call at the newspaper "L'Echo" who has the best archives and up to dates information on economical matters, whatever the area.
All the best and "Break a Leg!"
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Thank you for your answers,
Of course the best way for me is to get the opportunity to meet people from the management but this I have already written lots of mails and I should meet some of them in April.
This will of course help me a lot but there are a lot of subjects to talk about for a thesis and by creating this topic, I intended to have some new ideas to develop.
I know a thesis is to be based on "scientific" sources, so I do not intend to consider what I will read here as a main source of information.
All I know is that a lot of people here are concerned about this merger so I would like to get your opinions.
I will now give my own opinion so that you can tell me what you think of it but I insist on the fact that this is only my opinion and I hope I will know much more about this subject in 2 months...
I think that this merger could allow Brussels Airlines to save money by reducing lots of operational cost.
BUT
This would request a fleet in the type of low-cost airlines, and having B737/300 and A319 is a loss of money in my opinion, as these aircrafts have the same range and the same capacity.
The problem is that they need only 1 AOC if they want to change the fleet (so that piltos from VEX and SN can fly any airplanes) and this seems a bit complicated for the moment.
Another problem is that, due to the merger, I think a lot of functions will be doubled. You cannot save money by reducing the number of crew because your planes have to fly. Then, I think the management staff should be reduced otherwise they will never save money.
But this is the management who decides so there is here a conflict of interests, isn't it???
I am waiting for your reactions,
Thanks for your help.
Olivier
Of course the best way for me is to get the opportunity to meet people from the management but this I have already written lots of mails and I should meet some of them in April.
This will of course help me a lot but there are a lot of subjects to talk about for a thesis and by creating this topic, I intended to have some new ideas to develop.
I know a thesis is to be based on "scientific" sources, so I do not intend to consider what I will read here as a main source of information.
All I know is that a lot of people here are concerned about this merger so I would like to get your opinions.
I will now give my own opinion so that you can tell me what you think of it but I insist on the fact that this is only my opinion and I hope I will know much more about this subject in 2 months...
I think that this merger could allow Brussels Airlines to save money by reducing lots of operational cost.
BUT
This would request a fleet in the type of low-cost airlines, and having B737/300 and A319 is a loss of money in my opinion, as these aircrafts have the same range and the same capacity.
The problem is that they need only 1 AOC if they want to change the fleet (so that piltos from VEX and SN can fly any airplanes) and this seems a bit complicated for the moment.
Another problem is that, due to the merger, I think a lot of functions will be doubled. You cannot save money by reducing the number of crew because your planes have to fly. Then, I think the management staff should be reduced otherwise they will never save money.
But this is the management who decides so there is here a conflict of interests, isn't it???
I am waiting for your reactions,
Thanks for your help.
Olivier
Hi Oliver,
I keep on believing that, even after your last thread explanation, yo are in the wrong place to discuss or get valid information.
A merger in aviation is NOT much different than in any other area of the economy; to propose a valid information on it, one needs to have commercial and economical information that most pilot are unable to acquire and of which they are carefully kept remote.
Was the merger decided to create an economy of scale, or an economy of scope? Both company are showing profit, though with an extrememly thin margin, so is the merger meant to increase the profit margin only, or is it meant to mostly bulk the revenue?
Obviously, reducing costs is always the "leit motiv" of entreprises managers who see labour as a liability rather than an asset, but is it the case in this merger?
I do not know any of the answers to these questions, not even if these questions are appropriate in this matter.
As for fleet management and operational personnel planning, these are items of which the policy makers of the companies would take care after the merging decision is taken, but that would certainly not be decisive in the decision itself, henceforth, it would not be of real interest in a dissertation about the merger.
One thing that jumps to the mind of any observer with half a brain, is that in a country with a macro-economics general policy like Belgium has establish since the 1960's (Solidarnosc avant la lettre), a traveling market limited by this very policy and the counter entreprising mentality of the ruling class, maintaining two major competing airlines for that market does not make much sense, no? All the rest is ancillary considerations.
I keep on believing that, even after your last thread explanation, yo are in the wrong place to discuss or get valid information.
A merger in aviation is NOT much different than in any other area of the economy; to propose a valid information on it, one needs to have commercial and economical information that most pilot are unable to acquire and of which they are carefully kept remote.
Was the merger decided to create an economy of scale, or an economy of scope? Both company are showing profit, though with an extrememly thin margin, so is the merger meant to increase the profit margin only, or is it meant to mostly bulk the revenue?
Obviously, reducing costs is always the "leit motiv" of entreprises managers who see labour as a liability rather than an asset, but is it the case in this merger?
I do not know any of the answers to these questions, not even if these questions are appropriate in this matter.
As for fleet management and operational personnel planning, these are items of which the policy makers of the companies would take care after the merging decision is taken, but that would certainly not be decisive in the decision itself, henceforth, it would not be of real interest in a dissertation about the merger.
One thing that jumps to the mind of any observer with half a brain, is that in a country with a macro-economics general policy like Belgium has establish since the 1960's (Solidarnosc avant la lettre), a traveling market limited by this very policy and the counter entreprising mentality of the ruling class, maintaining two major competing airlines for that market does not make much sense, no? All the rest is ancillary considerations.
Per Ardua Ad Astra